MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. The Novaya Zemlya nuclear testing ground is ready to resume nuclear tests, if need be and given the corresponding political will, Vyacheslav Solovyov, scientific head of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics, told TASS on Wednesday.

"It is ready," he said, replying to the corresponding question.

As Solovyov explained, "a special program is in effect to maintain the testing site’s readiness."

The Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site is maintained by the Russian Defense Ministry’s 12th Main Department. From September 21, 1955 to October 24, 1990, 130 tests were carried out at the nuclear test site, including 88 atmospheric, three underwater and 39 underground tests.